Congress seems to have found a solution to the debt

There was a economics journalist on Wash Journal this morn (they are doing the fiscal cliff all week) who noted that if they rolled back ALL the Bush tax cuts they will bring in 4.5 TRILLION dollars over 10 years from the US taxpayer. If they only rob the rich (top 2%) they only bring in 800 Billion over 10 years.

For reference, here are some things the government has spent money on recently:

Afghanistan: 500 Billion
The War on Civil Rights (DHS) : 1 Trillion

Anyone know how much has been wasted on:

Iraq
The War on Drugs
Federal regulation compliance (It's supposed to be something like 20% of GDP)

Rock, Squeeze, Bleed!

-t

Public education is not education ... it is schooling.
Our military is not defense ... it is warmongering and empire building.
Government police do not protect ... they control.
Regulations do not regulate ... they protect the status quo.
Government banks do not distribute money based on effort ... it is gifted to close friends ... and some of it trickles down.

The result is war, poverty, fear, chaos, and hopelessness for most people with abundance for a few elite.
-Travlyr

Tail end of a documentary. National Geographic Channel, IIRC. It was about OBL/AQ.

The DHS figure was from their inception. Afghanistan was total cost of the war from the start.

-t

Public education is not education ... it is schooling.
Our military is not defense ... it is warmongering and empire building.
Government police do not protect ... they control.
Regulations do not regulate ... they protect the status quo.
Government banks do not distribute money based on effort ... it is gifted to close friends ... and some of it trickles down.

The result is war, poverty, fear, chaos, and hopelessness for most people with abundance for a few elite.
-Travlyr

There was a economics journalist on Wash Journal this morn (they are doing the fiscal cliff all week) who noted that if they rolled back ALL the Bush tax cuts they will bring in 4.5 TRILLION dollars over 10 years from the US taxpayer. If they only rob the rich (top 2%) they only bring in 800 Billion over 10 years.

This just goes to show you how silly all this hoopla is. Even if they raise everyone's taxes, it only gets us 4.5 Trillion over 10 years. Our budget deficit is over 1 Trillion each year! I'd like to see someone put together a number of how high they'd have to raise taxes on people to cover the spending for this year alone. How much of our income would we be allowed to keep? 40%? 20%? Would it even be possible?

"And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

If you wanted to get rid of the deficit only via increases in income taxes, they would have to basically double from what they are now (they currently account for about $1.2 trillion in government revenues). On the other hand, if you want to balance it only with cuts and leave off things like Social Security and Medicare/ Medicaid, you have do drop the spending on everything else to zero- including the Department of Defense. You can't get rid of the deficit without both. There is no "pain free" solution.

On the other hand, if you want to balance it only with cuts and leave off things like Social Security and Medicare/ Medicaid, you have do drop the spending on everything else to zero- including the Department of Defense. You can't get rid of the deficit without both. There is no "pain free" solution.

Sounds to me like we need to tell the hippies their generation ruined our country, and the promises they made themselves are void.

Congress is like a fat guy whos trying to lose weight by doing 20 minutes of exercises a day but meanwhile he doesnt want to cut the 20,000 calories a day he is taking in... He'll never lose weight no matter how much exercise he does and congress wont ever pay off debt no matter how much they increase taxes.

Congress is like a fat guy whos trying to lose weight by doing 20 minutes of exercises a day but meanwhile he doesnt want to cut the 20,000 calories a day he is taking in... He'll never lose weight no matter how much exercise he does and congress wont ever pay off debt no matter how much they increase taxes.

I don't think congress and the president are working out 20 seconds a day figuratively speaking. All calories all the time.

I don't think congress and the president are working out 20 seconds a day figuratively speaking. All calories all the time.

Actually under Obama NEW spending has been nearly flat- they still weigh 400 pounds but have not gained up to 500 pounds (his first budget was fiscal year 2010- he took office in 2009 but until October 2009 we were under the budget passed by Bush and the previous Congress). I am talking about the budget deficit- not the debt though. The debt is still gaining a lot of weight. Not gaining much weight but definately not losing anything. Still lumbering around.

Interesting- I heard one foreign commentator refer to the US foreign policy as a "lovable" lumbering giant- he means well but when he comes into the room he ends up making a pretty big mess of everything.

This just goes to show you how silly all this hoopla is. Even if they raise everyone's taxes, it only gets us 4.5 Trillion over 10 years.

But the only important thing is that those horrible, horrible rich people will get a little poorer. Right?

.

"Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won."

Sounds to me like we need to tell the hippies their generation ruined our country, and the promises they made themselves are void.

Oh please, not this again! Most of us were barely teenagers when Nixon made the final disconnect from the gold standard. Central banking has been around since 1913. THAT is the root of our problems.

Diversity finds unity in the message of freedom.

Dilige et quod vis fac.~ Saint Augustine

Originally Posted by HOLLYWOOD

If anything, this situation has proved the government is nothing but a dictatorship backed by deadly force... no different than the dictatorships in the banana republics, just more polished and cleverly propagandized.

Originally Posted by otherone

"People who live in white houses shouldn't throw drones" - the GOOD book